Willie Snead was added to the Miami Dolphins roster and many fans are scratching their heads. The nine-year veteran has been a journeyman WR during his NFL career, but if Miami needed a new WR, they could have looked elsewhere.
Snead will have to compete for a roster spot, and there is plenty of speculation that he could be a camp body given the fact Odell Beckham Jr. is still on the injured list and not practicing. If the injury is a concern for Miami regarding OBJ’s season availability, they probably should have realized that his days of being a 17-game starter are over, and if they view Snead as a potential season-long fill-in as needed, they missed an opportunity to actually get better because they could have spent a little more elsewhere. We have these two guys in mind:
Hunter Renfrow
Hunter Renfrow can play the slot and WR3 role. He has decent speed, but he makes up for that shortcoming with good route running. Renfrow has been consistently good throughout his career and has done so with sub-par quarterbacks. The list includes a gunslinger in Derek Carr and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Renfrow in the Dolphins system would be brilliant. He is more than capable of handling the outside duties should he need to provide depth, but his value is in the slot. He made the Pro Bowl in 2021 when he eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving.
Michael Thomas
When free agency arrived, Tyreek Hill posted a social media message calling for Thomas to join the Dolphins. Thomas isn’t the player he once was, but neither is OBJ. Thomas would have given Miami security on the outside and could have allowed the offense to put Jaylen Waddle inside to create more mismatches vs. a defense.
Thomas remains without a job and will likely sign with a team once injuries happen later this summer. He has eight years of experience, but missed the 2021 season due to an ankle injury. Since the injury, Thomas hasn’t been the same, posting only 171 yards in 2022 and 448 last season with the Saints, the only team he has played for in his career.
Regardless of what he hasn’t done recently, in Miami, Thomas would have been a situational player who could expand the scheme while providing an outside security blanket to Waddle and Hill.
